My very important thoughts on a show you didn't attend...

And I know you didn't attend it because hardly anyone did, which is just sad, really. I'm feeling self indulgent today. Humor me.

For my birthday, C got me tickets to the Trail of Dead show this past Monday night. Secret Machines and Dropsonic opened up.

Dropsonic: was billed by the masquerade as the best local band in Atlanta. I disagree. Even on the cramped, backlined stage in Hell they could have put forth a little more energy. I will admit their singer's stage banter was pretty funny, but all that tells me is he should be a comic and not a musician. As it was they were an utterly forgettable Muse ripoff.

Secret Machines: were quite good. I don't recall ever hearing them before Monday night, although they apparently have a single in radio circulation. I looked up a few videos of theirs on youtube after the show, and I can say they are much better live than recorded. The performance was bombastic and hypnotic at some points, but much less psychedelic than their records, which in my opinion is a good thing. Sparse lighting and driving pulses of music gave their performance a very high-concept edge. Fun to listen to, but nothing to write home about, really.

...And you will know us by the Trail of Dead: were fucking incredible. Someone told me recently that I use too many adjectives to be trusted, so I will try to keep my exclamations to a minimum here, but good God those boys can rock. First of all, the whole band was mingling with the crowd during the first two bands, which is always cool of a national headliner I think. They played an awesome show, with a good sprinkling of Source Tags and Codes (still their best album) tracks throughout. The show was unbelievably loud, which was entirely expected and appreciated. There is really something to be said for a musical performance so loud your eyeballs shake. The show itself was a nice reminder of how much fun smart punk can be.

My attention span has waned, so I am ending this now.